Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

MWA has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Price Performance

MWA opened at $21.69 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.28. Mueller Water Products has a 12-month low of $12.13 and a 12-month high of $23.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $356.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 19.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Mueller Water Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.067 per share. This is a boost from Mueller Water Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Mueller Water Products’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at $10,630,326.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of Mueller Water Products stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total value of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mueller Water Products

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mueller Water Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products in the first quarter valued at about $46,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the second quarter worth about $72,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mueller Water Products during the first quarter worth about $80,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Mueller Water Products by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,757 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the period. 91.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc manufactures and markets products and services for the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water used by municipalities, and the residential and non-residential construction industries in the United States, Israel, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions.